Letters

Officers and men

It is incorrect to say that no British Army officers were executed in the first world war (Letters, August 21). Between August 4 1914 and November 11 1918, according to official statistics, 797 British Army officers were court-martialled for capital offences, of whom 22 were charged with desertion or cowardice. Of the latter, four were sentenced to death, but only Lt Eric Skeffington Poole and Sub-Lt Edwin Dyett were executed. Both retained their rank, as their court-martial dossiers and the engravings on their gravestones testifies.

In the same period 61,896 soldiers were court-martialled for capital offences, of whom 6,236 were charged with desertion or cowardice. Of the latter, 284 were executed. Though Field Marshal Haig remained keen to shoot soldiers after 1918, army policy generally ensured that executions were only implemented as a punishment for offences by personnel whose units were stationed overseas while hostilities were in progress.Julian PutkowskiCo-author, Shot at Dawn